The dining habits of mosquitoes

University of South Australia mosquito researcher Stephen Fricker says it's because different species of mosquitoes have different tastes.

"There's a whole suite of mosquitoes that occur in the Riverland and not all of them bite humans or bite humans preferentially, some of them prefer to bite birds or small mammals," he told ABC News journalist Sallese Gibson.

"Each mosquito has its own sort of biting preference and they also have different preferences of where to bite."

So which are which?

"If people are getting bitten on the back of the hands and they're getting bitten around dusk and possibly dawn in more humid areas like in the shade behind the house, that would usually be a species called Notoscriptus," Mr Fricker said.

"This is the mosquito that will breed in your rainwater tanks and pot-plant holder type things, places where you strike your plant cuttings, forgotten containers in the back of the garden, disused fish tanks and even swimming pools.

"There's another mosquito which may be around because of the dry weather and drying up pools or overflowing septic tanks and that's Culex quinque-fasciatus.

"That bites in the middle of the night - it usually buzzes around your ear and keeps you from sleeping which I find particularly annoying.

"That mosquito's preferred way of biting people is being sneaky in the middle of the night, whereas Notoscriptus prefers to feed around dusk and it bites on the ankles and the back of the hands to avoid getting squashed I suppose."

And what about those small, annoying ones?

"It's a tiny little mosquito and you can actually see it buzzing around the end of your nose and you can never actually quite catch it - that's a completely different species of mosquito," he said.

"It's quite interesting if you're at a barbecue and you can tell what type of mosquito it is and catch it and be proven right - that's a little trick we like to use sometimes."

Are we in for a bad mozzie season?

The University of South Australia has been conducting a Mosquito Surveillance Program along the SA stretch of the River Murray for the past 13 years.

The September/October survey found mosquito numbers to be well down on historic levels in the upper catchment area of the Riverland.

Numbers were slightly higher in the Mid Murray area but also down on previous years.

But in the lower Murray areas including Murray Bridge and the Coorong areas, mosquito numbers were extremely high, much more than historic levels, most likely due to a warmer winter and spring.

What to do?

Loxton Waikerie Council environmental health officer Kate Knight says the best way to reduce mosquito numbers around the house and garden is to eliminate any possible breeding sites.

"Remove any water that might be around or cover up doors and windows with mosquito proof mesh and also use surface sprays and knock-down aerosols," she said.

Septic and rainwater tanks should be covered and sealed to deter the pests and to further reduce the possibility of being bitten, dressing appropriately also helps.

"Cover up, wear long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing so it's harder for mosquitoes to bite skin and using insect repellent containing DEET is another popular way as well," she said.